Fitz throws to Stevie Johnson in the corner of the end zone and that safety has ZERO chance at getting there to make any kind of play.
Fitz throws to CJ and he likes splits the linebackers but has 2 DBs he clearly has to beat to the endzone...and maybe 3 seeing one of the two players near Stevie would peel off as soon as the checkdown is made.
The right throw is back corner to Stevie. It's either a TD or incomplete. Well unless it's horribly underthrown then it could be picked.
Buffalogic (11-14-2012),Lone Stranger (11-14-2012)
Are you serious? If Fitzpatrick had any sort of anticipation or glanced at his best receiver once when the game was on the line then he could have let the ball go when stevie was at the 10 and had an easy and almost indefensable touchdown. And yes Stevie is wide open, especially in a situation where you are on the opponents 25 with only 28 seconds left in the fourth quarter to win the game. It doesn't get better than that unless their whole defense gets struck by lightening and dies.Originally Posted by kingJofNYC
Anyone who apologizes for fitz on that play is just outrageous.
Lone Stranger (11-14-2012)
Here's one where Fitz is looking off the LB, you can see both the LB and CB bite towards Spiller, leaving Stevie against a flatfooted CB. You can also see that McCourty is squatting on the goalline, which would of forced Graham to cut it up around the 2 or 3 yard line, which if you see how high the ball is when it's over the goal line (which I have done by freezing the video) shows that it would of been well over Grahams head, had he cut the route underneath. It may have been a bad route, but it was a bad throw that would of not been complete even if Graham chose to go underneath (IMO).
http://wgr550.com/WHITE---Eye-in-the...-Game/14777096
You guys seeing that gaping hole in the corner are looking after the throw, after the safety reads the throw and breaks on the ball. That safety was keying on Johnson and the sideline throw the whole way. Indeed, look at the video before the play and you can see him creeping outside before the snap. If Fitz throws to Johnson, he has a narrow target to hit along the sideline to complete it. A more accurate QB than Fitz could hit it. But Johnson was not wide open.
Yes, CJ is open. This picture is more to show that Stevie Johnson is not. The safety at the top of the screen has that side of the field pretty well covered in this Patriots Cover 2 (that drops the MLB back into the middle as a third safety essentially). Spiller is open short. TJ Graham crosses the 5 yard line and Fitzpatrick makes the decision to make this throw.
It is at THIS moment that the ball leaves Fitzpatrick's hand. Graham is still looking downfield as he continues his route. Stevie Johnson has cleared the CB covering him but the safety to the top of the screen seems to have that back corner well covered. It's only when he starts to track the ball and move out of that spot that Johnson appears to have a shot at the back corner. The ball is on its way to Graham...but he doesn't break.
If he keeps the throw outside, there is minimal chance of an INT but it's also a difficult catch where Steve would have to turn all the way around. It's not a bad throw, but I think Spiller + Spike was the best option there.The right throw is back corner to Stevie. It's either a TD or incomplete. Well unless it's horribly underthrown then it could be picked.
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kingJofNYC (11-14-2012),Lone Stranger (11-14-2012),YardRat (11-14-2012)
Great write up. For the umpteenth time, CJ and TJ were the main options.
What did I say in my original post that was ridiculous? You posted an image and said Fitz still had the ball in his hand, which he clearly didn't, the ball was actually in the air but you could barely make it out. As you can now see, with the above images, your initial description was dead wrong.
Im not excusing Fitz, he sucks, but I'm also not going to exaggerate things just to make the situation look worse.
With a good QB all the options could of worked, you had CJ wide open coming accross the middle, with Stevie, while the safety was in good position, was open at the 5 and a good throw could of beast the safety and with Graham, what's to say it was Fitz isn't the one that chose the wrong option, Graham had almost 8 yards of endzone behind McCourty, who was crouching at the goal line most of the play, which would of forced Graham to force it up short of the goal line, so Graham chose to go deep. This teams needs a QB that can make decisions and plays, without having the perfect scenerio, which he screws up most of the time anyway.
You don't throw to the side with the most opponents unless someone is clearly open, which in this case wasn't the case.
Lone Stranger (11-14-2012)
No you are dead wrong. Obviously
Nah, you're just trolling. Find a screenshot with Steve wide open and with the ball in Fitz's hand, you can't, but keep trying I guess.
Who ****ing cares, they lost, Fitz sucks and that singular play isn't going to change that.
Im no NFL coach or QB, but that coverage is a 2 deep zone. That safety that everyone is talking about has the left DEEP HALF of the field. Stevie is not open at all. The screen shot shows the safety breaking away from his zone cause Fitz is releasing the ball, and didn't even look his way. Fitz read the coverage and saw fade route Stevie was running was not going to be open. He determined Graham would be the right way to go because, face it, if Graham breaks the way Fitz thinks he is. Thats probably a touchdown. He threw it to a spot where the underneath defender wouldn't close in time, and Graham would be underneath the deep safety.
Spiller looks to be open. If he can make his man miss, he may have taken it in. The defender looks to have an angle on him for what its worth
YardRat (11-14-2012)
So your saying TJ running his route directly behind the safety so there was no throwing lane was the right decision?
Henceforth the title of this thread.
Last edited by Skooby; 11-14-2012 at 06:18 PM.
I don't think I said that, since he chose to go deep, he could of went deeper, but I'm not sure cutting it up would of been the best choice, McCourty had perfect position on the route, for either option. What I have said is that if he would took the underneath, the ball would of been well over his head. It was a bad throw and a terrible decision to go to Graham and not even consider the throwing to the other receivers after the ball was snapped, which Fitz basically admitted to.
Then stop wiping fitz's tear about the play and join reality.
You're the one crying about Steve being open, he wasn't, that's reality.
Fitz being an awful qb has long been established, beating a dead horse.
Why this hasn't been addressed is the saddest part
Steve was just breaking to the right. Safety would have had no chance to get to the ball.
How does Steve run a fade by breaking to the right when he's lined up on the left side of the field?
Edit: Are you looking at it from the safeties perspective? I still don't think he's that open, tight throw and we all know Fitz can't hit that fade down the sideline, he's missed it all season long.
Bottom line, he probably had one sure fire option, CJ. Just like the thread title suggested.
Last edited by kingJofNYC; 11-14-2012 at 10:09 PM.
Who told you he was running a fade? In the video I watched he was starting to run to the right, not to the corner of the end zone.
You must be watching a different video.
Here, read this
http://wgr550.com/WHITE---Eye-in-the...-Game/14777096
You'll probably understand things better. If you're too lazy to read, Kishoph and Illuminatus posted the images. Steve was to the left of Fitz, in the slot, he clears coverage for Spiller by running a fade.
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